Saturday, May 28, 2011

Memories of Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh... I love this city, the people, the architecture, the castle, the flow. The smell brought back so many memories. It has been ten years since I was a student studying abroad at the Edinburgh College of Art, and I always dreamed about coming back with my wife someday.

Again we found ourselves blessed by the generosity of others. My old Bible study leader, Lincoln, allowed us to stay at his flat while he, his wife and his kids were away visiting the States. We walked through the city taking in the spectacular views of the castle, which is positioned on top of a hill and can be seen from many different places around town.

As we walked the royal mile, which connects the castle to the palace, we experienced bag-pipers, cathedrals, quaint alcoves, tourists and of course starbucks. We are amazed at how many starbucks we have come across in the U.K. No, we are not partaking in being their customer as we prefer to choose local cafés to have our coffee and hot chocolate. Moni graciously allowed my modern architecture curiosity to wander as we toured around the recently constructed Scottish Parliament building, designed by Enrich Miralles. The building is very unique and inspiring to me, of course we were not able to see all of it, as the building is in operation for the parliament.

I was able to show Moni where I used to live, the College I attended, and we were even able to go to a church service at Carrubbers where I used to attend. I was amazed when I reintroduced myself to the young adults pastor who not only remembered me but remembered a lot of specifics about my life and my family. We were able to have dinner with an old friend of mine, Peter and his new wife Heather. We enjoyed hearing about their lives and sharing ours with them. Playing British Trivial Pursuit after dinner was enjoyable even if Moni and I were not that great at trivia. On the last day we were in town Moni was resting at the flat while I ventured down to the Meadows, the park where I used to play countless games of futbol. I ended up finding a game to join in with and once again had to show them that not all Americans are bad at this game. We left to the airport early on Monday morning in typical Scotish weather, wet and windy. We found out that another volcano had erupted in Iceland and the dust was on its way to the U.K. and would arrive on Tuesday potentially affecting air travel. Again, we felt God's hand of provision over our trip as our flight was not interrupted or altered.

About Me

Matthew and Moni are currently taking a trip around the world, visiting 20 countries.
Many of our friends and family asked us, “Are you crazy?” when we told them about our trip. Well, the answer to that question is undoubtedly “YES!” We are crazy…but not in the way one might think. We are crazy about this adventure called life, we are crazy about seeking the One who is leading us on this adventure, we are crazy about meeting new people and having new experiences together, we are crazy about learning to love well and love deeply, and we are crazy about giving all we are and all we have in response to Him who has given us everything. Yes, we are crazy.